The invention relates to glassy carbon.
Glassy carbon has a unique combination of properties, including chemical and thermal inertness, hardness, impermeability to gases and liquids, and electrical conductivity. Because of these properties, glassy carbon commonly is used in carbon electrodes.
It is known to use oligomers containing acetylene groups as starting materials for making glassy carbon.
Supported metal catalysts are used in a variety of important processes, including the reforming of petroleum hydrocarbons into aromatic compounds, methanol synthesis, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, and ethylene oxide synthesis. The largest volume user of supported metal catalysts is the automotive industry's catalytic muffler, which utilizes platinum and palladium to oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. Dispersion of the metal catalysts on a support provides for the most efficient utilization of the metal, since small crystallites expose a large fraction of their atoms on the surface where they are available to reactants.